Friday, May 07, 2010

Location:
Ken Sanders Rare Books (268 S. 200 E.)

Ken Sanders Rare Books is pleased to announce a once-in-a-lifetime event featuring the songs, ukulele books, and miniature literary masterpieces of gypsy wagoneers Peter and Donna Thomas on Friday, May 7th at 7:00 p.m. at our downtown bookstore (268 South 200 East). The event will feature a workshop on miniature book and art book creation in the guise of ukulele tunes and songs about the vagabond life. Many of those familiar with our shop will recognize the Thomas' as the creators of all the wonderful miniature books on display around the shop that enthrall children and adults alike. Peter and Donna will discuss these works and will have many more on display inside their custom-built Gyspy Wagon which they are currently using to tour the U.S.A. This event is free and open to the public. Don't miss this opportunity to meet two truly unique artists and view their one-of-a-kind works.

Book artists, papermakers and letterpress printers for more than 35 years, Peter and Donna Thomas of Santa Cruz are traveling around the country this spring in their new homemade Gypsy Wagon. They are visiting the libraries and booksellers who have collected their work and we will be sharing their book arts experiences along the way. For many the gypsy’s wagon, caravan or “vardo” is a symbol of the freedom of the gypsy lifestyle. For Peter and Donna, building and using this Gypsy wagon will be like a return to the days of their youth, when as merchant craftspeople they had a Gypsy wagon built on a VW bus, traveling to crafts fairs around the west selling their handmade books and paper. Peter and Donna Thomas will be making one-of-a-kind and limited edition books as they travel, with subject matter inspired by what they see and learn while on the trip.

Since 1976 Peter and Donna Thomas have worked collaboratively and individually, making paper, letterpress printing and bookbinding, to create books. Under the previous imprint of The Good Book Press, and the current imprint, Peter and Donna Thomas: Santa Cruz, their books have been shown in individual and group exhibitions in the USA and abroad, and have been purchased for collections around the world.

Donna (Millar) Thomas was born in 1957 in San Francisco, California. She attended Sonoma State University where she studied art. She graduated in 1979 from the School of Expressive Arts. Peter Thomas was born in 1954 in Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California at Santa Cruz where he studied the book arts with William Everson at UCSC’s Lime Kiln Press. He graduated in 1978 with a major in Aesthetic Studies. From 1974 to 1990 they made and sold books at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire.

In 1976 they established a private press. At that time their goal was to create books in the tradition of the great private presses: limited editions, made of the finest materials and produced with the highest standards of quality. They printed their first book in 1978, and spent the next ten years producing "fine press" books in both full size and miniature format. To assure that the books they made reflected their intent, they always made the paper, print and bound the books completely by themselves. In the late 1980’s, concurrent with the infusion of new energy which spread through the book arts community when it was introduced to the personal computer, the Thomas’ vision of the book they wanted to create expanded beyond simply "fine press". They began to work in new formats, exploring non-traditional book structures and shaped book objects, as both limited editions and one-of-a-kind books. In 1992 they printed Good Books, a bibliography of their work. This lists over fifty titles, representing many authors and a wide range of subjects, but the Thomases are not just publishers: they are artists who work in the medium of the book.

Throughout their career they have been active in the leadership of both national and international book arts and papermaking organizations. They have lectured and taught workshops to book arts students internationally and have published articles on papermaking and other aspects of the book arts. In 1997 their binding was given special mention for innovative design in the Helen DeGolyer Triennial Exhibition. In 1997-98 The Guild of Bookworkers featured the Thomas’ A Collection of Paper Samples Handmade in the USA as the set book for a national traveling show titled Paper Bound. In 1998, and again in 1999, one of their books was chosen for the Distinguished Book Award by the Miniature Book Society and in 1997 the society presented them with the Norman Forgue Award for their work promoting in the miniature book. In 2001 their binding of James Joyce's Ulysses was awarded the Judges Distinction for Innovation in The Helen DeGolyer Triennial for American Bookbinding and the Art Museum of Santa Cruz featured their work in a comprehensive show titled Art Undercover.

Recently Donna has been working on miniature one-of-a-kind books that have calligraphy text and watercolor illustration. These books are leather bound with tiny picture leather onlays. Many are about nature, John Muir and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Peter is working to complete his history of papermaking in the Philippines. He has also been exploring the relationships between paper and fire and he is making a series of books out of instruments, modifying old ukuleles and accordions into various book formats and structures.

For further information, please contact:

Ken Sanders Rare Books
268 South 200 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 521-3819
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